The Philippine National Police (PNP) may have the full support of President Rodrigo Duterte and even National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Dante Gierran in the government’s all-out war against illegal drugs but they also got this warning from the President: Engage in illicit drug trade and you will face “serious consequences.”

Gierran defended the police from the spate of killings and alleged human rights violations by saying that they are “simply asserting their authority.”

“I believe in the police, and sabi nila maraming napatay o may napatay dahil nanlaban (I believe in the police, and they say many have been killed or there were killings because the suspects fight back),” he said.

Gierran said no right person in his right mind would kill somebody for just nothing.

“The police surely – or the NBI for that matter – would not kill somebody or anybody by just enforcing the law. But because of an unfortunate incident, we have to defend our authority and, in so doing, somebody is killed,” he said.

Gierran also said that there’s no need to create an inter-agency body to investigate extrajudicial killings in the country despite the rising number of deaths resulting from the government’s anti-drug campaign.

He also asked the public to just let the authorities do their jobs. He claimed extrajudicial killings may be illegal but there are exceptions.

“The moment somebody’s killed because of what we call ‘enforcement operations,’ it is not per se an extrajudicial killing or illegal killing,” he clarified.

“It could be that somebody is killed, particularly the offender, because of a firefight. The law enforcers will enforce the law, but the problem is the offenders would also put up their force against law enforcers,” he said.

BAD EGGS

The President said that he will not condone erring members of law enforcement agencies, especially those who are involved in illegal drugs.

“Yung mga police nasa drug…  Sinabi ko na sa inyo, ‘wag ninyong lokohin ang Pilipino,” Duterte said.

In a Senate hearing on extrajudicial killings this week, PNP Chief Gen. Ronald Dela Rosa said  that approximately 300 police officers are on the watch list on suspicion of involvement in the drugs trade.

Some of these erring policemen are believed to have been selling confiscated drugs or giving protection to drug syndicates.

“I’m telling you again, again and again.  I will protect my police. They can go ahead with the trial. Wala akong pakialam. Trial kayo? For all I care… I will protect, I will protect them,” he stressed.

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos and Elena L. Aben

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